M-Tech. Strange Tales. Midnight Sons.

Marvel Comics imprints may come and go, but the MC2 line refuses to die. Pronounced dead on arrival by self-appointed Usenet pundits, it defied expectations and repeated rumors of cancellation.

There have been casualties along the way - only the line's flagship title, "Spider-Girl," is still being published - but MC2's third chance is about to begin.

While previous expansions to the line were of ongoing titles, this time around, the company will be taking a more measured approach, MC2 writer and creator Tom DeFalco told the TMU online Marvel fan 'zine (http://members.aol.com/nocturnerv/) in an interview published on Saturday.

"Our plans are as unstable as the rest of the industry," DeFalco said. "We currently plan two more limited series for later in the year. 'Darkdevil,' followed by 'American Dream.' If 'The Buzz' sells well enough, he'll get a monthly title. Unfortunately, there are no plans to revive 'A-Next' at this time."

The second wave of MC2 titles, "Wild Thing" and "Fantastic Five," ended abruptly, and two issues of each exist in various stages of readiness.

"There are two penciled issues of 'Wild Thing' (one of which is already scripted)," DeFalco said, "One penciled F5 and an additional F5 plot currently gathering dust somewhere in Marvel -- plus the covers for all four issues!

"Mike Marts -- MC-2's new editor -- occasionally makes noises about gathering all the material in a monster-size comic, but the sales department doesn't think they can sell it. … If you'd like to see this material printed, write Bob Harras or Bill Jemas."

And DeFalco answered the obligatory question that has dogged the MC2 line since the beginning:

"Rumors about the cancellation of 'Spider-Girl' began before the title was ever published. All I know for sure is that Marvel plans to publish the title at least until December 2000 … which is the end of this year's publishing plan. The title will continue into 2001 if sales stay at their current level. (Since sales actually seem to be growing, that won't be a problem.)"